Reports: Food Availability in Santa Clara County and Focus Groups in San José

Food Availability Study-Santa Clara County
In March 2009, Food Empowerment Project trained and sent out about a dozen volunteers around Santa Clara County, California, to survey access to healthy foods in both high-income and low-income neighborhoods. We also looked at areas based on education, ethnicity, and income level. Our criteria for healthy foods consisted of fresh, canned, and frozen fruits and vegetables, as well as alternatives to “meat” and dairy.

As a follow-up to this study, Food Empowerment Project conducted focus groups in San José and worked with the community groups Somos Mayfair, Sacred Heart, and CommUniverCity before releasing a report on our findings in Bringing Community Voices to the Table.

GIS Maps for Santa Clara County

In collaboration with Santa Clara University (thanks to Marty Saunders and Professor Iris Stewart-Frey), GIS (geographic information system) maps were created that display which districts of the San José City Council, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, and the California State Assembly and Senate are most likely to be impacted by inequitable food distribution.

The maps have been organized according to ethnicity (Asian, Latino, Caucasian, and non-Caucasian [a combination of people of color]) and poverty rates (percent of low-income households per census tract).